Small businesses have seen their biggest decline in monthly sales since the first Covid lockdown

Xero's latest quarterly Small Business Insights report shows sales fell 1.5-percent year-on-year in the April to June quarter.

The month of June saw an 8.3-percent drop - the largest monthly fall since May 2020.

Head of Sales Paul Churchman says this was driven by industries that rely heavily on discretionary spending.

He says it's an overall tightening that everyone's felt across the country.